Where Ends Meet

I didn't really want to start cutting out my garment today....it didn't feel right to delve into it without some kind of direction. Which I know contradicts the whole purpose of this project to abandon linear processes, BUT THAT IS HAAAAARRRDDDD! And I don't think it would be right to go ahead and create something without going back and trying to find consistent elements of my previous works to use again this time.

So I pondered a long while today over past works...and discovered a couple of things within my aesthetical tendencies towards texture and shape.

1) Linework: I tend to have an affinity in forming lines within texture.
Panels, pleates, drapes, digital prints are some techinques I keep referring to time and time again throughout my designs. I don't know what it is about lines...perhaps it is because they are streamlined, neverending, crisp, directive. I find lines on people flattering, anyhow.
Horizontal lines make you look fat.
Vertical lines make you look slim.




2) Sillhouette: Constant experimentation with body conscious/unconscious
I think this is fairly easy to explain...I'm always interested in how the body is perceived, accepted, adorned, adored, hated, covered, shaped. It is an interest in social conventions, gender history, etc. I'm not drawn towards one aspect or another. I think I just like to experiment as reflective of whatever political views on gender and the body I am prone to at the time



3) Textile and mechanical technique: Subconscious partiality to luxury fabrics and meticulous labour
Going through through my fabric reccomendations...there is an apparent obsession with silks and silk blends, cashmeres and wool. I guess this is why I went for the lusturous satin wedding skirt, the linen tunic, the fur-wool jumper with little flecks of animal print at Salvos. Subconsciously, I must have quality in mind considering the technique involved in some of my designs and hours of labour required for production....
Sustainability factor: that labour is HAND labour!





So the garment I will produce for For Us By Us will implement these consistent elements of my work to reflect myself as a designer. By reflecting on an archive of previous works, I am beginning to define my design aesthetic and philosophy.